Tamworth’s marriage equality conversation
BARNABY Joyce speaks to gay people almost every day and insists there are more important things than same-sex marriage.
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Recent polling has revealed there is a majority of people in favour of marriage equality in Mr Joyce’s New England electorate.
But the MP says there are more pressing issues on the agenda.
“I speak to members of the gay community almost every day of my life,” Mr Joyce said.
“And like almost all heterosexual people they tell me emphatically that the most important things for Parliament to deal with are issues such as job creation, economic management, ensuring the regions get their fair share of funding and protecting our borders.”
A poll conducted in the electorate by ReachTEL, on behalf of Marriage Equality Australia, revealed 50.5 per cent of respondents believed same-sex couples should be allowed to marry.
More than 45 per cent of New England think it’s very important the matter is resolved in 2017.
I also know that not everyone shares my view, which is why I support every voter in New England being able to have a say on the issue.
- New England MP Barnaby Joyce
A recent online-poll conducted by The Leader attracted 735 votes and found 55 per cent were in favour of same-sex marriage.
Mr Joyce hit out at the “so-called poll” commissioned by Australian Marriage Equality, which was “not independently conducted”.
“It was paid for and designed by an advocacy group seeking to get a particular answer for a particular purpose,” he said.
The ReachTEL poll surveyed 12 coalition-held electorates around the country.
Overall, it found 60.92 per cent in favour of same-sex marriage across the electorates, with New England returning the smallest percentage in support.
In New England’s survey, 39 per cent of respondents said same-sex couples shouldn’t be allowed to marry, while 10.5 per cent were undecided.
“Everybody knows that I believe in the defence of marriage: I believe in it being between a man and a woman,” Mr Joyce said.
“But I also know that not everyone shares my view, which is why I support every voter in New England being able to have a say on the issue.”